Newell Gurus

Full Version: Hello all!
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Hi.  I'm new to the community and trying to do some research on a 1978 40' Newell coach located near Grass Valley, CA.  It has a Cummins 555 and Allison transmission. I am headed up to look at it this weekend and apparently its in turnkey condition although I have my doubts. The Facebook market place ad has very little info but I did talk to the owner and got some more pictures and details.  I'm here to see if I can learn some things about this coach and try to avoid any pitfalls.  I know the 555 motor is regarded as underpowered by some and prone to high maintenance.  Any info would be greatly appreciated, Thank you!
1978's are a fairly rare breed and I haven't seen the Facebook Marketplace ad you reference. I have seen a few listed over the past 15 years but not many. Typically they had either the Cummins 555 or the Cat 3208. Most were either 35' or 38'. I understand that one and only one was built with a tag axle but I have never seen it. That was the only tag axle Newell built prior to 1986. Some have been repowered.
Just checked out the ad on Facebook. Pretty cool old coach.
Carlos, welcome to the forum! Reach out to @retro, he has repowered two 70's era coaches with Cummins 8.3 mechanical and Allison 6 spd transmissions. I'm in the process of a powertrain swap, but it's taking way more time than I thought.
Welcome Carlos. My ‘78 had the 555. It was reliable for me. It was slow on the hills but would run 70 mph all day long on the flat. I loved the sound of it as well. The only thing that I spent a lot of $ on were the brakes. It had the old “wedge style” brakes. I changed the rear axle to S cam brakes.
My '73 had the wedge style brakes also. In 2001 I had a truck shop replace some of the wheel studs and they left a broken stud in a wheel. The next repair shop couldn't get parts for the wedge style brakes, so they had to change all the brakes to S cam, fortunately, the first shop picked up the bill.
The backing plates and hardware I sourced from a truck salvage yard. I had to buy new drums,shoes,and actuators. The good news is that it increased the braking capacity of the rear axle significantly.
Thanks for all the replies! I'm heading to up to see the coach tomorrow. The current owner is a diesel mechanic and has done an engine rebuild I believe. The 555 has 74k miles on it. I would consider swapping it out for a stronger diesel at some point in the future. It will be registered in WA and I plan on towing a small trailer with a payload of about 4000 lbs. This coach will be used as a home base for a mobile outdoor drive in movie and concert business. I plan on mainly staying on the west coast and it will be very lightly used in the winter, probably mostly parked for 4 months out of the year.

I will ask about what kind of breaks it has and try to get as much info as possible. When checking this coach out myself is there anywhere I should specifically look for rust or water damage? I want to look at the roof as well. Are there any problem areas for these late 70's models I should look out for?

Thanks everyone!
Look at the bay floors. My ‘78 had plywood over the steel floor. I ended up removing the tanks, building a new waste tank, cutting out and welding new steel in the bay floors. Not difficult work but very hard and dirty.